Christian, notice how the element of eternity is basically found in every stanza of this children's hymn. The reason hymns from men like Wesley and Watts and Doddridge seem so alien and shocking is because the praise and worship today is bereft of eternal glory. Haven't you noticed? Take just about any contemporary song these days and you'll see that the lyrics are mainly catering to [i]present[/i] or [i]past[/i] experiences and they extoll the current and immediate virtues of God, and how man is dependant on Him. This, in itself, is not bad - for surely, it is true and important - however, when this theme is almost exclusively addressed, it can be to the detriment of the believer.
When the weight of eternal consequence goes away, burdens invariably lift, the fear of God is attenuated, and you end up with an unbalanced and thus unhealthy and unholy walk with God. Most lyrics today revolve around these true, yet eternity-less themes:
"Oh, God, you are my everything, I love you, I praise you..."
"You pulled me out of the pit, you caught me when I fell..."
"I feel you in my life, your presence is awesome in this place..."
"Welcome Holy Spirit, fill us now..."
"I went to the devil's camp and took back what he stole from me..."
And so on and so forth. No real shade of eternity; for the most part these song themes are "I" centered and transitory. The hymns of Wesley and Watts seem so shockingly old-fashioned and judgmental in comparison because they tread on holiness and eternity - on the old paths of how our fathers once walked mightily with God. Take, for instance, the Wesley children's hymn you provided:
And must I be to judgment brought,
And answer in that day,
For every vain and idle thought,
And every word I say?
Right away we are confronted with the element of eternal consequence and the legitimate backing by a scripture inference of Matt. 12:36.
Yes, every secret of my heart,
Shall shortly be made known,
And I receive my just desert
For all that I have done.
Here the element of divine and eternal retribution for moral transgression is mentioned again (notice how Wesley deals with the aspect of the [i]hidden, unseen and unheard[/i] issues of the human heart). Do we hear this today in our praise and worship, amidst all the handclapping and shouts? There's nothing really to get our soulish emotions all worked up about, if we are soberly reminded that God shall judge unmortified hidden secrets - and I am the first to confess guilt in this area, and in need of constant cleansing and mortification.
How careful, then ought I to live,
With what religious fear!
Who such a strict account must give
For my behavior here.
The [i]fear[/i] of God's eternal judgment. Earthly moral behavior and eternal verdicts walk hand-in-hand in this hymn. Children are rightly getting a healthy dose of undefiled, unhumanized gospel truth with this little rhyming song.
Thou awful Judge of quick and dead,
The watchful power bestow;
So shall I to my ways take heed,
To all I speak or do.
A reference of 1 Peter 4:5 here, and a further reminder of eternal judgment. Does Wesley ever let up! He is saying to the children: "Take heed, take heed, take heed, my little ones. Prepare to meet thy God." And when I read this hymn, he is reminding me also - as even if beyond the grave and awaiting resurrection!
If now Thou standest at the door,
O let me feel Thee near,
And make my peace with God, before
I at Thy bar appear.
He closes with the urge to make peace with God before appearing in court. I've always said that these hymns are like mega-spiritual vitamins, like vast, profound sermons compressed into 4 or 5 stanzas of rhyming lines, with each and every idea pregnant with a scripture base.
Brother Paul
